Saturday, September 19, 2015

Security Guard Stabbed at Private Oceanside Park. That is the headline.

My little park with the ocean view with misty golden sunsets. The place where so many of us walk our dogs and count the bunnies munching on the soft green grass. A family of hawks lives in the pines above and soar overhead calling to each other.

Bright yellow butterflies dancing on the whisp of a breeze between the brilliant hot pink bougainvillea and cool white oleander. Park benches dedicated to long passed residents who earned memorial for their service to our little community.

At the stoney eastern end, cairns piled to mark someone's moment of being present in this quiet oasis.

I would often go there with the babies to reset my soul after a particularly rough day at the office. And just this day, I was throwing quite a gala pity-party; orders not shipped on time, others shipping too soon, lost boxes in the black hole between the warehouse and the FedEx truck, bank balances way too low and how the h@££ do I tell my husband? Yes all these were the balloons, streamers and confetti of the festival in my head. When POW, here is reality. Christina, one of the security patrol officers doing extra duty in my neighborhood is stabbed, middle of a Friday afternoon, in our little bucolic haven in the city.

I had been told that the increased security was due to problems with non-residents DOG walking. As it turns out, the problem is non-resident DRUG taking! (jeesh, no one can hear around here). Our neighbor Ruth's house overlooks the entrance to the park where picnic tables and benches offer a birds-eye view of the park and beyond. She reports that at all hours there are people shooting up whatever drug they can afford and leaving their needles amongst those dropped by the pines. This has been going on for weeks!

Ruth is the one who heard Christina's screams and found her on the ground with the switchblade knife still in her stomach. Nine one one. Police and their dogs. Ambulance. EMTs. Helicopters. People detained. People interviewed. By the time I had come along, all these were gone, except Ruth sitting on the bench trying to breathe again. Debbie, another neighbor while walking her little dog witnessed the whole thing was now at home gathering herself as well. Christina at the hospital in surgery.

So as I finished my late afternoon walk with my two precious dogs, I remind myself, Miss Pity-Party Hostess, you thought you had a bad day? These are the dramas taking place all around you every day. Gun violence. Death. Refugees in despair. Illness. Tragedies of all proportions that leave their mark on us, humankind. Now go reset your perspective of how damn lucky you are.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Another week comes to an end. Laughter and struggle were the flavors this week. I can keep the laughter but the struggle is not worth the toll on my soul. So with these words, I end my work week with a deep inhale and longer exhale, whispering these words....

Monday, September 7, 2015

Today I share a letter written by Katrina Kenison, written to herself while attending teacher training at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. It is the last page of her moving book, Magical Journey, An Apprenticeship in Contentment.

"What I want to say to you, my dear, is this: Just for today, live the passionate truth of who you are. Stop looking at what is undone, what you haven't achieved, where you've fallen short. Look, instead, into your own full heart. If your journey brings you to a choice between love and fear, choose love. Vulnerability has its own grace and it's own gift. Offer it. Be brave enough to be vulnerable. Allow yourself to be seen - dancing, and falling, and failing, and trying again. You are loved, and all that you, have to offer is deeply needed. Your own presence is a force for healing. Be present. There is more going on than you know, more guidance and support surrounding you than you can even begin to imagine. Trust it. Your own strong roots are in place - in your own body, in the earth, in the ongoing story of your life, just as it is. Put your faith in those roots, and allow yourself to go with the flow. Let go and breathe into the goodness the you already are. Move with the current, not against it. Resist nothing. Let life carry you. You have work to do. Begin it."

I am now in the habit of reading my tattered copy of this letter every morning when I rise. It serves to remind, comfort and inspire that my life is unique and to be cherished with my every breath. I am more mindful of even the smallest of blessings that surround my every day journey.

So on this Labor Day, which marks the end of yet another summer but the enchanting beginning of autumn, do yourself a glorious favor and order this book. Take this season of reflection to open your heart and soul. Read her journey of love, loss, and discovery. I am filled with gratitude for her sharing this gift and wish to pass it forward.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

I am sure this isn't new to most but just I case, use your pastry cutter to make short work of cutting up hard cooked eggs for egg salad. Used to use the old dinner knife and man, those little eggs are slippery suckers. Have had more than one escape to fly on the counter, bounce and slide off to the floor.